Jamaica Kincaid Quotes & Sayings (Page 2)

“When I'm writing, I think about the garden, and when I'm in the garden I think about writing. I do a lot of writing by putting something in the ground.”

“One doesn't have to pursue unhappiness. It comes to you. You come into the world screaming. You cry when you're born because your lungs expand. You breathe. I think that's really kind of significant. You come into the world crying, and it's a sign that you're alive.”

“I didn't really understand racism because I grew up in an all-black society, so I didn't see how it was possible not to like me!”

“I suppose you could say I love outlaw American culture.”

“I used to want to be a backup singer. Not a lead singer, because I really can't sing.”

“People don't make changes because things are wonderful.”

“I think in many ways the problem that my writing would have with an American reviewer is that Americans find difficulty very hard to take. They are inevitably looking for a happy ending.”

“The English language started out as a distortion in my life, but nothing remains the same, and so the distortion is now just normal. That is one of the things that will happen to all distortions: They become normal and turn into something else.”

“When I write nonfiction, it's always absolutely true. There will be no moment in my nonfiction where I have made something up and have to apologize to the bullying hostess of a talk show.”

“I can write anywhere. I actually wrote more than I ever did when I had small children. My children were never a hindrance.”